Hi all,

Well...today, I was home from work with the Flu. After I could no longer sleep (due to coughing) I got up and decided that I had now had a chance to put my most recently aquired pair of Pioneer Speakers: THE PIONEER CS 911's to the test and Oooooooooh Baby! did they pass the test! I turned em up to a good Loud volume and played soundtract to the motion picture: "THE EMERALD FOREST." WHOA!...To make a long story short...these four way, six drivers per speaker (with it's 15 inch Woofers) ROCKED MY WORLD! These speakers have a overall wonderful presentation and are VERY musical. The CS 911's however are less efficent than my Pioneer CS 88's and my HPM 100's requiring me to set the volume control of my Sansui QRX 7001 stright up at 12 o'clock to reach the volumes I was trying to obtain. The 88's and 100's require half that (or less) to reach the same volume.
Ummmmmmmm...me thinks I like to have MORE POWER! lol
Anyway...I am for sure a fan of vintage Pioneer speakers!
Oooooooooh...if one searches hard enough...great deals can be found on these vintage speakers on Ebay etc. I dare say you would be hard pressed to find speakers of such performance unless you spend at least $1000.00 if not more (IMHO).
Oh...I paid $75.00 for my pair of CS 911's. God is good.
SixCats!

sixcats -

Just a thought if you have the time seeing that you pretty much wrote it up anyway ...

We now have a "reviews" forum, and you seem to give a pretty good rundown of the strengths of your gear, so why don't you post a review of all your Pioneer speakers in there ...

If you have time ... :)

Hi Walt,

Ummmmmmm...I guess that is what I get for not looking closely at the main page. I take your advice when I have a bit more time.
Thanks, SixCats!

6C,

Absolutely. The "fretwork grille" Pioneers are going for astonishing low prices on eBay. And, these things tend to be in better shape than most speakers -- I guess those fretwork grilles tended to keep most kids and fingers and such away from the drivers. One of my managers mentioned he was storing a pair of speakers for his son that he'd sure like to get out of his garage, and they turned out to be Pioneer CS-88A's. I thought he'd be able to get around $200 via eBay if they were in good shape, but when I started looking, it turned out that it was damn hard to even get a hundred bucks out of a fine pair.

Heck, there's a "Buy It Now" of only $175 for a pair of the big, bad CS-99A's, from a very reputable seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1395792466

Again, these things have to be the best speaker deals on eBay recently!!

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&query=pioneer+%2Bcs&cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&maxRecordsPerPage=100&ht=1&from=R10&currdisp=2&itemtimedisp=0&st=2&SortProperty=MetaNewSort&SortOrder=d&category1=1497&BasicSearch=

Hi toots,

Nice to hear from you buddy. Unreal isn't it. If I were looking to enter into this hobby and start putting together a vintage system of excellent sound for so little money...man...how could one go wrong? Put these series or even the CS 88 (lattices) series together with any number of say...45 Watt (and up) per channel Vintage Pioneer,Sansui,Maranta,Kenwood,etc. Receivers and you rivial sound that would cost...gee...at least a $1000.00
(and I am shooting low) in new equipment. This is not to say that excellent performance can not be had for less but (IMHO) I don't think it could be a OVERALL performer...that is to say...could not go as deep...could not play as loud...etc. I guess it truly depends on what wants from a system. For instance...I am betting a new pair of Maggie MMG's (factory direct) and a new NAD C 350 would sound EXCELLENT together for a cost of about $800.00 (less CD player). If one only listen to Jazz,Blues,Acoustic,etc. I think this would be a SUPER system however...if one wanted to CRANK IT once in awhile (like I like to do with say...Bill Miller's GHOSTDANCE)...I believe the small Maggies would leave me wanting. If one were a wise shopper on Ebay...one could put together a vintage system for less than four hundred dollars...and if one is really lucky (like yours truly SixCats!)...well...one could put together such a vintage system for about $30.00 but...lol...that's another story! SixCats!

Dang, I should be looking for speakers!
I was then, and remain so now, convinced that the CS-88A & CS-99A did not lack in any respect. I believed then, and now, that they were the better Japanese speaker systems available at the time. A lower true bass, smooth mids, and detailed highs.
I played those big babies loud, and long, and never came away fatigued (er, from the listening).
The cabinets were at least an inch thick. Tightly constructed. The drivers were very nice. Cast aluminum frames, big magnet/motor structures.
Sigh ...

pete

As you guys may recall, I got a pair of CS-99A's in the factory Pioneer boxes recently, along with a TT, RtR, and Sansui receiver.

They really are probably the one of best 1970's vintage speakers you can get (a nice pair) for around $300.

I had a near mint pair years ago, .....and they were one of those things you wish you had never sold.

Sure, there are all kinds of better vintage speakers, but not really in the price range, and maybe most of all the real wood cabinets and wood grilles, ........make these special.

Hi Shain,

Excellent...you found a nice pair of CS 99A's with boxes!
I once saw the drivers set up in the 99A's and they look like a SERIOUS speaker system. I wonder how they would sound compared to the CS 911's ? My wife will KILL me if I bring home any more gear but...I shouldn't let that stop me lol. I hope you enjoy em.
SixCats!

Sounds like another bargain.

The great thing about these older speakers is that so few people realise how good they can sound and so you can pick them up for cents rather than $$.

If anyone had told me I would be selling my Klipsch Heresy's after finding a pair of Sansui speakers made in 1975 (free mind you!!!) I would have thought them mad.

And you want to talk about build quality...puts the Klipsch to shame - these things are built like tanks.

Still - I wouldnt want to have them play on their own. Without the sub there is almost a total lack of bass - even less than the Heresy which never exactly rocked the house to begin with.

On the other hand with 98 db sensitivity and tubes to drive them the sound is remarkable.

congrats again.

Hi Max,

Good to hear from you...my God...first of all...CONGRATS to you and your wife on the birth of you daughter! Secondly...what a wonderful site you have created about your system...very nice indeed! I hope all is well with you. SixCats!

You have mail!!!

As for the site - it comes with membership of the Audiophile Club of Athens (ACA).

Frankly it needs a bit of updating - but I havent gotten around to it yet.

I think I will wait till the end of the month when hopefully my SET amps will arrive and then do one major update.

Will post here when it is ready.

cheers

Hey Sixcats,

My kid's using the CS99A's with a Marantz 2330B, ......about as good as it gets !!

He has a CD player, TV, Playstation2, and a pair of Bose 301's as rears.
(He refoamed the 301's. They were his first attenpt at speaker work, and he loves them of course)

All are running through the 2330B, and a Marantz 2440 4 channel adaptor amp.

Will rock the whole house !